A Circle of Voices
by Zephyrite
Summary: A story, telling the tale of nearly all of the vocaloids and their daily lives. Humorous, Romantic and even sad at times, I hope that you will enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. There is only one scene in the entire story with mature content
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

"Phew," Miku wiped her brow as she stepped out of the sound booth after a serious day of recording. Looking from side to side, seeking a familiar face, Miku Hatsune started to make her way home. She had only started working for this recording company a week ago, and the amount of work she had left her exhausted nearly every day. More often than not, Miku had collapsed on whatever soft surface was readily available, waking up on a couch or bed, the latter depending on if Luka was home to take care of her or not. Walking down the hallway to the exit, she completely missed the twins soundlessly shouting at a microphone on the other side of the hall in a neighboring booth. She pushed open the door and started her trudging walk home. The neon lights pierced her vision as she tried to keep herself from looking out of the ordinary, despite being on every corner on the city, illuminated thirty-foot high televisions. Being a pop-star was a lot of work, she decided, perhaps too much sometimes. In truth, however, she was really quite proud of herself when she turned on the radio and the DJ gushed heartfelt praise about her singing prowess. Cars and people went past, unnoticed by Miku as she walked in her singular world, not paying attention to anything else.

In a parallel situation, a tall, slouching man walked along another sidewalk, weary of the life he currently led, unsuccessful, unhappy and alone. Completely caught up in his troubles, he strode home on longer legs than those around him and thus outpacing them, stride for stride. Recently, he had realized how much he liked being tall. No one wanted to bother him, and even if they did, he could just escape them by walking away. He kept his gaze leveled at his feet, and by doing this, he thought to avoid any attention directed at him. However, by doing this, he never saw the world changing around him. Newer fads were lost on him, celebrities cropped up and he was only alerted to their presence by the voices he heard on the radio at his part-time job at the warehouse. Kaito Shion supposed he was grateful for the job he had, it allowed him to eat, as well as to let him be alone. In his solitude at work, he sometimes sang along to the hit songs playing over the radio; it allowed him to really feel alive. His boss would never approve however, so he kept his singing soft, and only where he could never be bothered. Thinking to himself about his apartment and the soft bed that awaited him, Kaito walked on, still staring at his feet, confident that people would avoid him due to his height.

Still in this mode, Miku Hatsune smashed right into a figure also not watching where they were going. The smaller figure of Miku went straight to the ground, while Kaito's larger frame kept him on his feet, but spun him around nevertheless. Suddenly yanked out their respective worlds; both people once again took stock of the surroundings they never felt they had to deal with in ordinary life. This rude awakening left them both too stunned to do anything as people parted to the sides and washed around them much like the sea. It could well have been the sea to them before, but now it was a collection of individuals each with their own lives and problems, all trying to get somewhere. The silence they usually lived in inside their minds turned to a roar of the sound that penetrated all nooks and crannies of the life everyone lived, and in that roar, a voice, meek against the sounds of life, broke through all Kaito had tried to do in order to deflect attention.

"Oh no" Miku gasped and started to grab many things on the ground, unnoticed before due to the shock of the incident. "My demos!"

Finally coming out from that shock that had paralyzed him, Kaito knelt down and started to pick up the discs and other trinkets that had fallen to the ground and were in danger of being crushed under the feet of the crowd that swept past them. Quickly gathering up everything that had been spilled from the bag, Kaito straightened and said with a deep bow, "I'm very sorry miss, I wasn't looking where I was going at all. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Miku said as she got to her feet, dusting her skirt off, "I wasn't looking where I was going either, it's my fault too."

Kaito shook his head, "Nah, I should have seen you coming. Anyway, I should be going. I'm sorry."

Starting to move past her and get to his apartment as fast as he could, Kaito tripped on a protruding part of the sidewalk and fell flat on his face, landing with an "Oomph" loud enough to be heard above the din of the street.

Miku flinched as she watched him fall; it looked like it hurt. A lot. Running over to him, she extended her hand, "That was quite a fall, come on, let me help you up."

Taking the hand extended to him, Kaito pulled himself to his feet with her help. A voice came from the girl who had helped him up, "What's your name? After all, I have to thank you for helping me pick up all of my things."

Kaito looked the girl in the face for the first time. No recognition dawned on him, as it would have for any normal person. Any normal person would have recognized the pop-star Miku Hatsune from fifty feet away through a dense crowd. "Kaito Shion, and thank you for helping me up."

Miku was glad the man, now she knew was called Kaito, hadn't apparently recognized her; it was a real hassle sometimes to be famous. People acted different around her when they knew who she was. "I'm Miku Hatsune, nice to meet you." She responded with a bright smile.

Starting to extend her hand to shake Kaito's, Miku faltered. Kaito hadn't noticed her hand and had started to walk away. She thought to herself, _"He looks like he's suffering from something. Maybe he just needs a friend."_

Kaito recognized that the girl was extending his hand, but he was already starting to walk away. He was too busy thinking to be bothered by that fact in any case. Much that had just happened seemed important to him, but he didn't know why. Becoming one with the crowd once more, Kaito made his solitary way back to his apartment. Confident that the next day would be much like the last, he mentally prepared himself for all that it would throw at him. Little did he know how important this incident would be and how it would change his life forever.

She watched him go in the direction she came from until he vanished from his sight, intent on his back, taller than the rest of the crowd. She would have watched for longer than that, but someone yelled from behind her, "Hey everyone! It's Miku!! Can we get your autograph?!"

Not pausing even to look at them, Miku Hatsune quickly signed the papers that were thrust into her face, scrawling her signature onto notebooks, cell phones and a few hands before she could extract herself from the mass of people that had gathered. The walk home was hard, but less than it would have been, but for the chance meeting with him. The sight of him was still burned into her mind, and she didn't know exactly why.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Neru sighed as she looked down at the register. It had been a long day working at the small convenience store on the corner of Ogawa and Cat Street. Suddenly something yellow on the table in front of her buzzed and lit up. Neru jumped at the noise it made, then realized it was her cell phone. She shouldn't have been surprised, as she used the thing constantly. Flipping the phone open, Neru looked at what had caused the phone to light up; she had received a text message from Ted Kasane, a friend of hers from a while back. The text read, "Hey when r u done with work?" The language made her cringe, so mechanical and stilted. She couldn't stand how people texted these days, what with these stupid abbreviations. Her fingers whizzed over the small keypad, typing out a message far faster than anyone should have been able to do. Done in nothing flat, Neru had responded,

"Why do you still talk like that, fool? I'm done at eight. What's going on?" with full punctuation and everything. She was sure to be perfect in that.

Neru looked around the store, waiting for the response to her message, seeing very little new or interesting about the place. That was the problem with people these days, she decided, they were just so damn slow. Too much time was taken with things without the efficiency that could be achieved with just a little practice. After all, that was how she got good at things, by practicing! _I'm going to have to sit Ted down and really teach him how to text_, she thought to herself. Suddenly, simultaneously, her phone buzzed again with a received text message and the door opened with a sing-song noise. A pair of short kids walked inside the store, clad in yellow and white, each nearly the spitting image of the other, talking all the while. Deciding they were worth little attention, Neru picked her phone up and started texting, taking her eyes off the people that just entered the store. Ted's response was, "I dunno, ws watching tv when a program came on about some new singer-idols they look pretty cool. theyr gonna rerun it at 10. come over and watch it with me ok?"

The right side of Neru's mouth made a downturn. Ted should have known how much she despised hit singers these days. They all seemed too peppy, not at all representing true music. That new Miku Hatsune? Poser. Nothing else to say about her. She couldn't really think of anything as bad as her, so she responded, "Alright, fine. I'll come over at 9:30 so I can see what new horrible singer has sprouted."

Setting down her phone again on the counter, Neru looked at the only people in the store at the moment, which would be the twins, as they clearly were. They opened a refrigerator and grabbed two energy drinks apiece. Neru didn't like those things, but she did have to accept that they darn well worked better than coffee, however delicious that stuff was. She hadn't had a good brew of coffee since she had been in America last summer. Working at this stupid convenience store was paying off the payments she still owed on that trip. It certainly was worth it, though. _Damn_, she thought, _I can still taste that coffee_. Mouth watering at memories, her phone buzzed again, reading, "But there so cute!"

Enclosed was a picture of _both_ singers. Singers that strangely reminded her of the people who had walked into the store a few minutes ago. She looked up from her cell phone to see that…

They were standing right in front of her, ready to check out. "Eeep!" She gasped as she realized they had been waiting on her since she had been checking her phone. She hastily grabbed the two bottles of energy drinks and scanned them.

"E-eight hundred forty yen, please." Neru said, still caught off guard.

One of the twins, a girl, snidely said, "Hot boyfriend on the line?"

"N-no, nothing like that!" Neru said, turning bright red. She simply had no idea what to say to this assault.

"Sure it wasn't," she drawled, "Gonna take him home and jump his bones all night long? Ride him until-"

"Rin, stop that. That's enough. You've got to stop being mean all the time!" The other twin had tried coming to her rescue, to little avail.

"Oh, come on, she was like asking for it."

Finally catching hold of what seemed like the tail of a wildebeest in stampede, Neru finally retrieved her senses and said quite loudly, "Now hold it right there! I'm sorry I didn't notice you when you stepped up to the counter, but what the hell? You've got some nerve there, little girl!" At this point, Neru had forgotten that these two were in the picture that Ted had sent her, and she wouldn't have cared, even if she had remembered. "It's people like you that give the rest of us a bad name!"

"GIRLS!" The boy looked like he was having an aneurysm, for how his face screwed up trying to get the situation under control. The look on his face told a story of trying to contain his sister far too often. And failing.

Silence reigned.

Each of the three looked at each other, no one willing to say anything. The spell was broken by the door of all things, as it opened to admit a customer. Going completely unnoticed, the newcomer, clad in an orange visor and a business suit that did much to conceal a very robotic body, tromped over to one of the aisles and started to browse the shelves.

The boy spoke again, "Get a hold of yourselves, ladies. We're all in public here, so we may as well act politely!"

The girl interjected, "But she-"

The boy cut her off with what looked to be a great deal of effort, "Shh! As I was saying, I'm very sorry about Rin," He motioned with his hand at the girl, who frowned and nodded at Neru. He then motioned to himself. "I'm Len Kagamine. Sorry to make your acquaintance in such a manner."

Neru nodded at the boy, "Neru."

The boy smiled, "Nice to meet you Neru. I'm sorry that we caused you so much trouble. Sadly, we have to get going. Stuff to do, things to get done." He turned to go, but stopped and took out his phone, "Here, take my number, I owe you one for how my sister treated you. If you need something, give me a call."

Neru took down the boy's number, and smiled slightly, "Thanks Len. I appreciate it. You have a great day, ok?"

"We will. You too!" With that, the twins left, Rin looking over her shoulder at Neru and throwing her dark glares.

She thought to herself, _at least one of them is nice enough_. _That other one, though…_

Her train of thought was interrupted by the only other person in the store, as his frame, clearly heavier than anyone she had ever seen before, thudded across the floor and set a sandwich and tea on the counter with a gentleness surprising for someone with a body like his.

"Is that all?" Neru asked.

"Yep," the man answered with a voice higher and mellower than would be expected.

Neru decided that this guy was weird and proceeded to check his items out quickly. It was nearly the end of her shift, after all.

As if on command, the man taking the next shift walked through the door. About a few inches taller than the boy she had met earlier, Dell Honne was a smoker, a workaholic, and completely not her type. She wanted to get packed up as soon as she could when he arrived. Dell locked his apathetic eyes with hers as soon as he walked in and drawled, "'Sup, failtits? Shift go well?"

"Until you got here, yeah. Well enough." She responded acidly.

Packing up only took a few minutes, and then she was able to leave the store to that grey-haired freak already manning the counter. She supposed she did sort of feel sorry for the guy, after all, he did take the overnight shift _and _the morning shift. The guy must not get much sleep at all. That pity didn't last long, and as she left, she stuck out her tongue at him, prompting a snort and a sardonic wave from Dell.

It only took a few minutes to find a bus going the right direction, and within ten minutes, she was nearing her neighborhood. She flipped open her phone and went through her contact list, scrolling down until she got to Len's name and number. _Nice kid_, she thought, as she flipped closed the phone and got off the bus.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Gakupo Kamui stretched as sunlight crept over the window's edge, touching his face with its tantalizing brightness. Conflicted, he hesitated in pulling the sheets off his bed partly in hopes time would reverse itself and he would get another few hours of sleep. Very quickly did Gakupo come to the realization that this would never happen, and in any case, how would he keep the promise he had made to his body. I will stay in perfect shape for my entire life, allowing me to reach longevity and happiness throughout my life. He said this mantra every day before getting out of bed, after morning sword practice, and before going to work. Ah work. He had that to look forward to as well: a place where he could help others, making not only them feel good, but him as well. Gakupo really liked going to work; it was one of the highlights of his entire day. With that thought blazing inside his head, Gakupo leapt to his feet and raced to get his training gear on and start practicing. Dawn had only passed by an hour by the time Gakupo had finished showering and started running the few miles to work.

It was hard to hear oneself think over the sound of loud equipment, pumping music and people mindlessly working out the troubles in their lives. Striding through the isles, Gakupo Kamui looked around him at the temples he had created. Sweat glistening, people all around him sweating out their insecurities, burning away self-doubt. Each person here was a temple to him, a well-built temple to house a well-nurtured soul. A gym really was a good idea, he decided. It provided for so much opportunity to help people in need, as well as providing a sanctuary for others. Gakupo recently had become a preeminent figure in the personal gymnasium business, someone anyone would really recognize. Anyone who met him would recognize his dashing figure drawing heads wherever he went, dressed in very catching purple sweat gear with a towel draped over one shoulder. As he neared the end of the aisle, Gakupo stopped next to a woman who seemed to be having trouble completing an exercise routine. Reaching down, Gakupo gently, but firmly changed the woman's posture slightly, saying, "Remember, you've got to move up when you do this, otherwise you are going to start feeling the burn a lot faster!"

The woman grunted as she did as he had suggested, "Thanks."

Moving on, Gakupo examined the room from the front, so that everyone on the treadmills and exercise bikes could see him. With a large smile and a shout that would leave a professional yeller stunned, Gakupo led the charge, "Come on everyone!! You can do it! Your body is precious to you. Take care of it and it'll take care of you!"

With that, he dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups. When he reached a count of three hundred, Gakupo stopped, not because he was tired, but because there was work to do! Jumping lithely to his feet, he started back down the isle towards the exit, watching for anyone in trouble as he went. He passed a glance over every single person in his path, making sure that every single one was doing it right. Gakupo couldn't have anyone hurting themselves doing improper exercise, could he?

Reaching the end of the exercise equipment, he came to the reception desk, where his secretary and receptionist, Zumi Hanabine took down notes and times of people who came and left the Nasu Exercise Center. "Hello Ms. Hanabine. How are you today? I didn't see you when I came in this morning."

The smaller girl with twin lime-green braids smiled as Gakupo addressed her, "Everything is going swell, Mr. Kamui. Well, you didn't see me because you always come in so early! I mean, I never even see you when I come in to open the place up!"

Gakupo let out a calm, gentle laugh, "Well that's certainly true. Been keeping up with the exercise program I prescribed to you?"

Zumi blushed a little. "Yes, Mr. Kamui, I have been. It's a lot of work though! It's hard to keep doing it sometimes."

Smiling, Gakupo said, "Well, Ms. Hanabine, all it takes is some practice. I have confidence that you will become able to complete your plan very soon and become healthier than you've ever been."

Zumi chuckled a little. "Thank you, Mr. Kamui."

"Anything new this week?" He inquired.

"We have a couple new members this week, no memberships have been canceled, and the fourth location will be completed soon. Perhaps you should talk to my brother about that." She responded easily.

"Oh, that's right, your brother owns a construction company, does he not?"

"Yes, he does: Keysmash Heavy Industries. He seems to be doing pretty well with it lately. I think that he would be the one to call for anything you need in that area."

"I'll do that. If you could write down his number for me and leave it in my office, I will call him tonight." With that, Gakupo made to leave, but stopped halfway through the motion, for there was someone standing in the doorway, staring around with an anxious gaze. Gakupo was stunned momentarily, for this woman was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life. It took him a moment to regain control over his motor functions. What broke him out of his trance-like state was Zumi's voice seemingly coming from deep space.

"Hello there, miss. I haven't seen you around here before. Are you perhaps from one of our other locations, or are you new?"

The woman, still gazing around her at the gym, replied in a deeper, sultry voice. "No, sorry. I'm new around here. I just moved in down the street and I wanted to see what all the fuss is about these gyms. Also, what's the fruitcup in purple's problem?"

"Don't mind him," Zumi laughed, "He seems like someone dropped his brain and lower jaw."

Realizing his mouth was open, Gakupo quickly closed it, shook his head, and tried to say, "Sorry about that, miss. Welcome to our humble gym." His voice came out a lot higher pitched than it should have, but at least they came out at all, he reasoned.

The woman positively shone when she laughed, showing a perfect smile. Gakupo had never really seem someone like her before, hopefully, he thought, I can get a hold of myself!

"Can I perhaps give you the grand tour of the gym, miss?" Gakupo asked with a smile.

"Meiko Sakine," She said, proffering her hand, "nice to meet you."

"Gakupo Kamui," He replied, showing her the way.

With Gakupo leading the way, Meiko followed him around the gym, looking at each area with care, taking in every part of the workings of the gym. Remarking on some parts, complimenting others, they finished the tour quickly.

"Impressive," Meiko said as they concluded the tour of the center, "I never thought there would be so much in this place for how much you can see from the street."

"That's one of the things we are most proud of here; being able to make the absolute most of the space we are given." Gakupo replied smoothly, clearly having regained his mojo.

"I mean, there are hot tubs and even a small pool! I know it didn't know it was really that big!" Meiko waved her hands above her head.

"We do what we do well." Gakupo responded. "So, would you like to join? First month is free. We also offer separate kendo…etc lessons as well."

Meiko smiled, it seemed like a great deal, especially as the other gym in town had shut down and was demolished. There was a great need for her to exercise in order to keep her body perfectly toned. After all, she worked as a model downtown, posing for swimsuits and all sorts of clothing. An issue featuring swimsuits was getting closer and closer, so she felt she had to get on the ball and exercise. "Yes, I think I will join, Mr. Kamui. Where do I sign up?"

Gakupo did a swift one-eighty, reached out, then did another one-eighty, coming full circle with a clipboard and pen in hand. Proffering said clipboard, Gakupo asked, "When do you think you will be coming in for personal training?"

"What?"

"Personal Training! Whenever you join, you receive one month of personal training services, administered by me. I'll help show you how to be as healthy as humanly possible!"

"I-I see. I'll be coming in at about eleven every day except Tuesday. Prior commitments and such."

"Excellent! I'll just mark that down here," Gakupo glittered, scribbling things down on a sheet of paper he produced from the receptionist's desk.

Meiko handed the clipboard back to Gakupo, who took it, looked it over, then said, "Thank you Ms. Sakine. I'm sure you'll enjoy your time with us here quite a lot."

Laughing, Meiko shone, "Thank you, Mr. Kamui. I'm sure I will. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

Gakupo beamed, "I certainly will. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

Still smiling, Meiko turned and left the gym with Gakupo's eyes locked on her back, all the way to her car. A powerful looking red convertible which seemed like it could eat pavement like none other, Meiko's car revved, then raced off, almost fast enough to leave rubber behind. _That woman was _hot,Gakupo thought. _Wow._

A snide voice snapped him out of it. "Hot stuff, huh?"

This time, not in the stunning presence of that woman, Gakupo was able to keep on his mental toes and answer without being absolutely dumb or falling flat on his face. "She's a client, Ms. Hanabine. A beautiful client, but a client nonetheless."

Zumi gave him a look that screamed: didn't _you _just glitter a little while back? Yeah. I thought so.

Gakupo gave her a sad expression and would have whined, but as he was just _that _manly, it only became a hurt voice, "Oh, come on. Ms. Hanabine, just because I have long, flowing, gorgeous purple hair, it doesn't mean that I am any less of a man."

Zumi shrugged noncommittally.

Gakupo rolled his eyes and said, "Thanks. Anyway I have work to do."

For the rest of the day, his mind would not be on work, but on that woman who made such an impact on him.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

The only thing illuminating the living room was the light from the large, flat computer screen. Hands whizzed over the keyboard, typing out code at a prodigious rate. Determined to get done with the project at hand, a short girl with pink hair, sporting two drill-shaped pigtails, one on each side, sat alone, undistracted by music or company. Teto Kasane had work to do; she had to finish this coding by Thursday, and it was already Tuesday. If she procrastinated any longer, she wouldn't have any time at all to work on her pet project. She dearly wanted to work on that; it meant a lot to someone like her.

Sighing, Teto swept her short bangs out of her eyes and sat back in her chair, resting her hands for a short moment. Coding was hard work, especially when you had small hands. "I'm lucky to be working over the Internet. Honestly."

Teto was 31 years old, but to anyone who looked at her, they saw a small girl in her mid teens. Anyone who asked her why this was got a cold stare and silence in answer. She really didn't want to recall facts like those. In order to turn her thoughts away from things like that, she thought about her job. Recently, in addition to web design, she had run into a chance opportunity to work for Google as a coder. Being quite adept at that sort of thing, she readily accepted; the money was good, the work was tiring but doable, and she felt like she was getting better at it every day. Teto remembered trying to go to companies asking for work, and them turning her down at every turn, just because she looked so damn young, completely disregarding her ability, thinking she had to have taken the codes from other people. After being turned down from the seventh job, Teto had decided just to do web design, which seemed to have worked out pretty well so far. It didn't pay all that well, but it was enough to rent out an apartment in the city. Plus her brother brought in some income as well. Teto may have looked fifteen, but Ted actually was that age, and thus behaved like a fifteen-year-old. A bit annoying at times, but a nice kid. Teto had always been Ted's mother figure as long as she could remember, due to the lack of parents. Teto remembered the first few years that she could recall…

Shaking her head, Teto tried to clear her head of those types of memories; they were killing her mood and making it impossible to think clearly enough to code well. Taking off the glasses she wore in order to see the screen, Teto got up and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Flicking the light-switch on, she walked to the pantry and pulled out a loaf of French bread and started munching on it as she walked to the fridge. Pulling it open, she grabbed milk and butter and set them on the counter. Teto closed the fridge, buttered her bread and poured herself a glass of milk. There was nothing for it. She needed a break. "What time is it?" She asked aloud to no one in particular. Fishing around in her pocket, she pulled out her cell phone, which displayed the time: 6pm. Goodness it was early, she thought. She really wanted to get out, but she had to wait for Ted to get home; she couldn't let him come back to an empty house.

His shift would end at 7pm, she reasoned, so she decided to take a nap until then. Curling up on the couch after finishing her snack, she slept. Some time must have passed, because as Teto started to regain consciousness, she was a bit sore from sleeping on a couch. Something was wrong though. She felt as though something was watching her. Moving very slowly, still with her eyes closed, she moved her arms and legs slowly into an easier position to strike out from, if needed. Quickly snapping her eyes open, Teto found herself face to face with a boy with long pink hair curled into spirals on each side of his face as well as a long tail in back. His face was about two inches from hers. Teto jumped back with a yelp, overbalancing, then falling over the back of the couch, hitting the floor with a thump. "Ted…That was scary! Don't do that to a cute girl like me!"

Ted couldn't contain his laughter any longer, and burst out with a light giggle, "But you looked so silly laying there on the couch by the door! I couldn't resist." He continued giggling.

Pouting, Teto tromped over to Ted (or would have, if she wasn't so small. As it was, she barely was able to pull of a stalk) and stood in front of him for a couple seconds, waiting for him to stop laughing.

This didn't work to her advantage. Rather the opposite, in fact. The pouting expression on her face simply caused Ted to laugh harder, falling over the back onto the other couch in the room, feet up in the air shaking to the force of his laughter. Teto tromped over to him, bent over the couch, and grabbed Ted's face, pulling on his cheeks. Ted's laughter stopped, turning into a yell of surprise and slight pain.

Releasing his cheeks, Teto crossed her arms and tried to look as angry as possible. It didn't help much. If anyone else were asked to evaluate the expression on her face, they would be forced to say that it was possibly one of the cutest things ever. Teto clearly couldn't pull off angry. At all. It was all Ted could do to not start laughing again. "Sorry! Won't do it again!"

And with that, Ted ran to the bedroom and collapsed into peals of laughter.

"I need a drink." Teto sighed. She never drank on most days, but she was old enough after all, and had been out drinking before. It really wasn't anything new. Plus, she needed a break, dammit. Too much stressing out over nothing; she just needed to blow off some steam.

"Ted, I'm going out. See you later tonight. Pizza's in the fridge. Have a good evening." Teto yelled in the direction of the bedroom.

A muffled yell came back, peppered with laughter, "Kay! You too!"

With that, Teto left the apartment and headed for the bar she went to whenever she went drinking: the Fiery Glass. The bar was a nice place, only frequented by decent people, at least as far as she could remember. She really didn't go drinking very often, so she supposed that she could be mistaken. It would be a nice break from the rigors of usual life, she reasoned.

The walk to the bar was short, one of its many perks, as it was only a couple blocks away. She could always get back to her apartment pretty darn easily, even if she got completely drunk, which she tried to avoid when drinking. As she neared the bar, she noticed that there was a bit more life in the area than she had remembered there being on a regular day. Opening the door to the bar, she was met with a larger crowd that she had seen there before, though still not large enough to pack the place. It seemed as though a group of people had come together to drink here today. People were nice, Teto thought, but today she really didn't want to be in a crowd. Seeing only a few tables open, mostly occupied by couples or older men, she chose the only one occupied by a sad looking woman, sitting alone. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

The sad woman shook her head and said softly, "It's alright, feel free. I usually drink alone, but I guess company c-could be nice."

"Thank goodness," Teto sighed, smiling a little. "I was worried I wouldn't find a table at all here!"

The woman looked at her with her red eyes, full of sadness, and said with a little upturn on her lips, "It is kind of packed tonight isn't it?"

"I'll say." Teto returned. "Want anything from the bar? I'm going to go grab something."

"You don't have to get me anything. I'll come with and buy it myself." She got up at this, and started walking to the bar. Teto looked at her as she got out of the booth. This woman was beautiful, thin, tall, and had a huge rack. She looked at herself forlornly; she had no womanly characteristics, even though she was 31. Thirty-one. Dammit, you would have thought she could have had something going for her, but no. Tiny in the chest department, short, high pitched voice. Nothing she had was at all close to being like all the other women in the history of ever. At least she had proof of her age. Dammit, even if she couldn't look like a woman, she could at least prove people wrong!

The sad woman got to the bar first and ordered something Teto couldn't hear over the din of the people and music. The bartender poured something into a glass with a single cube of ice and handed it to her. She waited as he grudgingly poured a second one for her. She fumbled around her pockets and pulled out a grimy wad of cash. Counting out the appropriate amount slowly and deliberately, she handed him some of the money, and took her drinks. Turning back to the table, she walked past Teto and sat down. Immediately taking one of the drinks and taking a long sip from it, she sighed visibly. Teto was curious about this woman now, so much so that the bartender had to shout to get her attention. "Little lady, what would you like? Milk? Water? Perhaps a soda?"

She jumped, snapping her attention back to what she came up here to do.

"I would like one appletini, thank you very much." She said as she fished her wallet out of her pocket.

The bartender laughed. He clearly wasn't the one Teto was used to here at the Fiery Glass. "You have some spirit girlie. But seriously, what can I getcha?"

Teto put on her serious face. The bartender was close to laughing. 'Why does this always happen when I try to be serious for once in my life?! ' "I am old enough to be ordering drinks; just take a good look at my license." With that she took her license out of her wallet and handed it to the man.

Studying the license with a frown on his face, the bartender glanced between her face and the license. "You look pretty darn young to be…" He looked back at the license then looked back, giving it back to her, "Thirty-one."

Exasperated, Teto gave the man a look, the most serious one she could muster. Perhaps for the first time, she actually was able to achieve a serious face without looking very silly, or something in her expression told him she was telling the truth, but he shrugged and asked, "Eh, whatever, it says you're that age, and I'm not going to argue with the government. What would you like again. An appletini?"

"Yes. Thank you." Teto said flatly.

The bartender mixed one, handed it to her, and said, "Well you have a good time here, alright miss?"

Teto only nodded, heading back to her seat, mumbling, "So I like fruity pansy booze. So sue me." under her breath.

By the time she had gotten to the table, the sad woman had already finished one of her two drinks, and had gone halfway though the second. As she sat down, she caught a whiff of the stuff the woman had, and it smelled pretty strong to her.

"So," Teto asked, "what's your name?"

"Haku Yowane," the woman said as she sipped took a drink out of the glass, draining a good amount. "You?"

Taking a drink out her appletini, Teto answered, "Teto Kasane. Nice to meet you, Ms. Yowane."

"Just call me Haku, alright?" The woman said with a small smile.

"Will do! And you can just call me Teto."

"I'll do that, thanks. Do you come here often, Teto?"

"Nah, just once and a while," Teto said as she finished off the appletini. "Too much stress in my life right now, just needed to get away for a little while. You?"

"My life," the woman said slowly, picking her words carefully, "is stressful too. I'm surprised I don't come here more often."

Aware that she hadn't really answered her question, Teto got up to get a second drink. Noting that Haku's drinks were empty already, she made her way to the bar to get some more. "One more round for each of us, alright?"

"Gotcha, little miss. Coming right up." It only took the bartender a couple of seconds to mix up her appletini and whatever Haku had in her glasses. Carrying both of Haku's drinks and her appletini back to the table, Teto set Haku's drinks down in front of her.

Haku looked at her as Teto sat down with her drink and seemed to get sadder, "Thanks Teto, I appreciate it, though I should pay you back for those."

"No worries Haku, I'm paying today. You enjoy yourself without worrying about paying for it. People deserve that kind of thing once and a while."

Haku hung her head, "Thanks. You do too much." And with that, she took a long drink out of her glass, downing half of it in one go.

Teto was impressed. This woman could drink.

It only took a little while for this round of drinks to be consumed, and Teto was getting a bit tipsy at this point. Walking a little unsteadily up to the bar a third time, signaling to the bartender another round was going to be needed. He nodded and mixed her drinks. Walking slowly back to the table in order to prevent them spilling all over. As it was, only a bit of the drinks slopped over the sides of the glasses and onto the floor. Teto looked at the spilled liquid and giggled a little. "Oops!" She said, and maneuvered herself to the table, setting the drinks down on the table with more force than she meant to. Luckily only a little bit of the drinks flowed over the top of the glass. Laughing at this, Teto took a long drink out of her appletini, licking her lips afterwards. Haku looked at the third round of drinks and started to tear up.

"You are too kind, Teto. I'm not worthy of such kindness." Haku said, then buried her face in her drink.

Teto giggled, "Are you kidding? You're pretty cool and people that are sad should be happy! Drink more, wash those silly troubles right down the drain! Cheeeeeers!"

Haku smiled through her tears, "You're right, I should be happy." Smiling more, Haku took a swig of her drink, then beamed and let the tears fall down her face at the same time.

Suddenly, Teto was starving, and shouted at the bartender, "One order of wings! Pronto! No!! Make it TWO orders!" Laughing uncontrollably, she couldn't even get up to bring the wings back from the bar. The bartender rolled his eyes and delivered them in person. Teto handed him money, not bothering to count it out. Luckily, this bartender was an honest man and gave her back her change.

With two wings in her mouth at the same time, Teto said to the bartender, "You know, yer a nishe guy. Thanksh."

The man smiled and left the table, making his way back to his post at the bar.

Haku seemed pretty out of it to Teto at this point, mumbling to herself, trying to smile and cry at the same time, neither emotion winning. After a couple minutes, Teto looked down at the two orders of wings, and noticed something was wrong: there weren't any left! Not only that, but she wanted something else to eat, and nothing from this bar. In fact, she was ravenous. "Let's go home Haku, you had a lot to drink an' I'm hungry."

Teto stood up and the room shifted a little. She was standing in a room tilted to the side and she wasn't falling off the wall! _Awesome. I can walk on walls_, she thought. Impressively, she just kept walking straight, albeit with her head tilted at a strange angle. Haku had an arm over Teto in order to keep herself from falling down. "Wheredya live, Haku?"

Haku looked around at her surroundings and started to cry with a redoubled effort. "I don't know…"

"I know, you can stay at my place unless until you remember." Teto said, not minding her grammar.

Outright bawling now, Haku hugged the little Teto to her, causing both of them to fall to the floor. Not letting go of Teto, Haku crushed the little girl to herself.

"Ok, ok. C'mon, gettup you." Teto said, trying to pull the woman to her feet. Through some miracle of coordination between the two, they attained uprightness and started walking to Teto's apartment.

As they got to the front of the apartment, Haku let out a sob or a shout. Perhaps a combination of both. "I live here, this is where I live. How did you know I lived here?"

Teto giggled loudly, "Silly, this is where I live. You live here too?"

Haku could only nod as they staggered to the doorway of the apartment. Getting up the stairs of the apartment was a minor miracle, what with both women inebriated. Pointing shakily, Haku motioned towards one of the doors and started to sob again. Her other hand started to fumble around in her pocket for the key. It took minutes due to the drunken state she was in, but she finally produced a key to the door. Putting the key in the lock was another story entirely. Haku was completely unable to get the key into the lock, so Teto decided she'd try her hand at it. Taking the key from Haku, she jabbed the key at the lock on a door that seemed to be on the ceiling to her. It took her a couple tries, but she achieved the unlocking of the stubborn door.

Stumbling inside, Haku made it as far as the couch and then collapsed in a drunken heap of limbs. She was out instantly. Teto laughed at the sight, then tried to get her to wake up. Nothing seemed to work, so she shrugged and left with the key, planning on returning to help the woman into bed. She knew how sore you could be the next day if you collapsed like that. It was impressive her thought processes were still working as well as they were, in spite of her drunkenness. She closed and locked the door, and walked out of the apartment in order to satiate the massive hunger she felt at the moment.

She stopped at the convenience store down a couple blocks and picked up three bags full of breads, boxed lunches and snacks. This should last me the night, she thought. She paid the man at the register, who looked like he had just started his shift. The man looked a bit odd, wearing purple and looked like he had been beaten up recently, judging by bloody bandages covering some of his face. She put a large bill on the counter, and said to the man, "You keep the rest of that, buy yourself something nice. Like some bread." She meandered out of the store, her head still at a weird angle. After walking for a little while, she realized her vision wasn't as tilted as before; she was sobering up a little. Well that would help in getting Haku moved.

Making her way home, Teto started to munch on the snacks she had just bought, going through bag after bag of chips. By the time she reached the apartment, she had eaten an entire shopping bag full of snacks. Walking to her own apartment, Teto unlocked the door and went inside. "Ted, where are you?"

"Hey sister, welcome home. How was your outing?" Came a voice from the bedroom.

Ted was probably reading something. He loved his books. Teto said loudly, "Ted, I need your help over here. Come on, get up and get over here."

Teto heard a sigh from the room, and waited a second. It didn't take long for Ted to appear in his pajamas, which Teto found great amusement in buying for him. Ted always felt obligated to wear them, and by now it had become second nature to him to wear whatever Teto bought him, despite the clothing getting more and more ridiculous as the years went by. This particular set was adorned with happily playing pandas on a background of lime green.

Struggling to contain a giggle, Teto said, "Ted, we're going to help someone I met earlier today. She passed out on her couch downstairs in another apartment. I need your help moving her to her bed, so that she's not super sore in the morning."

Ted rolled his eyes, "You went drinking, didn't you."

"Why yes I did. Now get over here and help me."

Ted followed Teto downstairs and up a different staircase, leading to a different area of apartments. Finally coming to the right door, Teto took the key out of her pocket and tried to unlock the door, softly saying, "I'm back, Haku," just in case she had gotten up of her own accord. The door was already unlocked. This worried her a little. Looking around, Teto's eyes lighted on the couch that Haku had collapsed on, now empty. "Where'd she go?" Teto said to no one in particular.

Not noticing the pair of shoes that were next to the door, the two made their way into the house. Ted clung to Teto's back, saying, "I don't like this. We shouldn't be here."

"Well if she's in trouble, we have to find out." Teto said quietly as she moved into the middle of the room. If Teto weren't still sort of drunk, she would have noticed two jackets hung up on the coat rack, one bordered in grey, much like the shirt she had seen Haku wearing, and one bordered in yellow. But as it was, she didn't, and was all the more nervous for it. Suddenly, a feminine shout came from the room in back. Teto dropped the bags of food she was holding and ran for the room, throwing the door open. Ted followed close on her heels, ready to do all he could to fend off whatever was in that room.

What Teto saw when she opened the door made her face turn as pink as her ridiculously pink hair. Her vision tunneled, and all she could see was a bed with a man and a woman in it. And they were both naked.

They looked at Teto with blank stares as she stared back, face getting redder by the second. The silence in the room would have drawn on longer, but for the voice of Ted, breaking the silence like a knife. "Neru?"


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Miku Hatsune opened the door to her house with a sigh. Her thoughts were focused so completely on the man she had met today that it was difficult to think about much else. It seemed like it took no time at all for her to reach her house after parting ways with Kaito, despite the fact that she had spent hours at an internet café, working on homework and messing around on forums. She was honestly surprised when she reached the gates to her house, it had seemed so short a time, so complete were her thoughts on Kaito. As the door opened wide, a motherly voice asked gently, "How was work today, Miku? Did you have fun?"

Miku found herself looking up at Luka Megurine, the woman who took care of her and the twins. Miku knew she had been adopted from an early age, as her adoptive mother Luka had told her as soon as she could recall. However, Luka had always been kind about it. She had always promised Miku that if her birth mother were ever found, that she would take her to meet the woman. Miku loved Luka though, with all of her heart, and had always received a lot of love in return.

"Hey mom. Work was great." Miku sighed as she passed through the doorway into the main hallway of the house. Miku realized that her house was a decent bit larger than most people could afford, but never flaunted that in school. It did make for a nice place to hang out with friends, when she had time, of course, and friends. Being famous made it hard to have many friends, but she was able to keep a few close ones, like Luna Amane. That girl had been her friend since she had transferred to the school she attended a couple years back. Quirky, but she was a nice girl nonetheless.

"How did recording Anger go? Do you think you'll be working on that one for much longer?" Luka asked as she followed Miku into the dining room, where a meal awaited her. It seemed like Luka had timed making the dinner perfectly again. Her mother was so good at doing that, that it almost scared her sometimes. She was always on time. Impressed, despite the regularity of the timeliness, Miku cracked a grin at Luka.

"Nah, we have a couple days left on that song. By the way, do you have ninjas following me home, radioing in, telling you exactly when to make dinner?" Miku motioned with her hands to simulate ninja-ness.

"Japanese Ninja Number one!" Luka shouted, posing for effect.

Miku burst out laughing, her mother was so silly sometimes. But perhaps the best thing about her was her food. It was pure bliss to eat a meal cooked by her. Often Miku had suggested that Luka enter into a cooking competition, fully believing that she would easily take the gold. Luka had chuckled and shook her head every time, saying that she wouldn't want those with real ability to lose out on the prize. Miku always tried pushing the issue, but never succeeded in making a dent in Luka's determination. "Where are the little yellow bugs?" Miku asked as she sat down at the table, speaking about the twins, of course.

"Those two?" Luka asked, "I put them to bed an hour ago. They're sleeping like babies at this point."

Miku smiled, "Those two were working hard today, they deserve to sleep like babies." Digging into her food, which today happened to be curry over rice, Miku said, "You know, I met someone interesting today on my way home." However, since her mouth was full, the words came out garbled.

Luka grinned and mocked Miku, asking a question in speech purposefully garbled. Miku pouted, chewed, swallowed then said, "I met someone interesting today on my way home from work."

Luka's eyebrows made a small movement upwards and gestured for her to continue.

Miku colored a little, "He looked so sad, like he just needed a friend. I was hoping I could find him again and," her face colored even more, "maybe invite him over for dinner sometime." As she finished, her voice trailed off to nothing and her face contained a blush the same color and intensity of cooling lava.

Luka chuckled at how embarrassed Miku was getting over this. "Silly, of course you can have someone over; it's rare we get to meet anyone new these days." Getting up from her chair as Miku buried her face in her hands to conceal her blush, Luka quietly advanced upon the girl, coming up silently beside her. Cackling softly, she nudged Miku in the ribs, "And it's a boy too," she said, putting emphasis on the word boy. "We don't ever have boys over. Little Miku is growing up!" Luka finished with a fake sniff.

"Mother!!" miku wailed.

Luka laughed gently, "How old is he anyway?"

Miku had small tears welling up in her eyes at this point, threatening to drop at any provocation. "I don't know! I just met him on the street today. He seemed very nice, but very sad. I just want him to feel happy again."

Luka's smile was gone now, listening to the motives behind her daughter's request had her feeling very proud of Miku. Putting a hand on top of Miku's head, Luka stroked her hair, saying softly, "You are such a kind girl. I know one day, you are going to make someone very happy to be their wife." Luka grabbed Miku's shoulders and spun her to face her. "But until that day, you will simply be my daughter, and I am so proud of you."

Miku hugged Luka, who said softly, "You know, your food is getting cold and we don't want that, now do we?" Letting go of Luka, Miku wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled.

"Thanks mom." That's all she could really think of to say. So she said nothing more and dug into her curry, which was still warm, despite the fact that it had been sitting out for the entire time they had been talking. Miku didn't need to say anything apparently, for Luka seemed perfectly happy with the response Miku had delivered. The curry really was bliss, Miku thought. There was nothing on this earth that could compare to the taste of Luka's cooking, and she had sampled a fair amount. As a pop-idol, she had the opportunity to taste many exotic foods at expensive restaurants. Nothing compared. For that moment, Miku was overcome with delight at the food, erasing all troubles for the time she chewed the plate of bliss in front of her.

Finishing her meal, Miku thanked Luka, carried her plate into the kitchen and set it down on the counter. "Should I do the dishes tonight, mom?" Miku asked loudly so Luka could hear.

The response came quickly, "No, you worked hard today, I'll do them."

Miku heard footsteps approaching and smiled, her mother was always so quick to take the burdens off her, to help her out in any capacity. Still smiling, she passed Luka on her way out of the kitchen, heading up to her room. As she ascended the stairs to the second floor of the house where the bedrooms were, she could hear her mother's singing voice drifting out of the kitchen, penetrating all corners of the house. Easily as good as her cooking, Luka's voice was spotless. Absolutely perfect. Her slightly husky voice had a quality to it that stimulated all of the consciousness at once. Miku had always thought that it should be her mother recording songs for the world, not her. Whenever she had said this to Luka, she had gotten only a chuckle in response, sometimes hearing the same thing as when she told her mother to enter a cooking competition. She just was too kind for her own good. At the moment though, Miku didn't mind that Luka never recorded anything. All she wanted to hear was her voice. As she drifted off to sleep that night, it was all she could hear.

**********

Kaito groaned a little as his alarm blasted noise into the room. Looking at what had rudely awoken him from his slumber, he groaned again: it was 5:00 am. "Honestly," he thought, "I hate my job. I have to wake up so damn early. Well there's nothing for it."

Heaving himself out of his futon mattress, he got ready for this new day, which he thought was going to be just as crappy as the last one. At least they were consistent. Fully dressed, Kaito quickly brushed his teeth, adjusted his scarf, and left his apartment. There were mercifully few people walking to work today, seeing how early it was. Avoiding the people that had to get up around the same time he did, Kaito made his way towards the warehouse in which he worked. It wasn't too far by his reckoning, but then again, Kaito had long legs and was used to walking long distances. In actuality, the warehouse was about two miles from where he lived. However, Kaito really didn't mind the walk, as it helped clear his head when he wanted to think. "It must be the open air," Kaito thought, "I just don't get enough of it."

Not long after leaving his apartment, Kaito passed a large, square, aesthetically pleasing building that always caught his eye on his way to work. He never really cared enough to figure out what it was, but this time, for some reason, he decided to investigate. He had time, after all. With that, he turned and headed straight for the building, walking right up to the gate. The words Crypton Music Studios Inc were painted delicately on a black plaque on the gate. So that's what it was. That would explain how artsy the building looked from the outside. "Some fat cats are getting rich off other people's singing talent," Kaito grumbled, "but thus is fate. The weak are preyed on by the strong. That's just how it is."

Turning on his heels, Kaito made for work once again, still internally grumbling about how bad the status quo was. It didn't take all that long for him to reach the warehouse after passing the studio, as the two were pretty close together. It only took him about five minutes to reach his work, punch in, and only a few more minutes to limber up. Lifting a package of salt in each hand, Kaito lumbered over to a pallet and set them down. Each package weighed in at sixty pounds and threatened to unbalance the man as he labored, moving package after package onto the pallet. As soon as each package was loaded, Kaito walked off to get the forklift. Rumbling and coughing, the old piece of machinery rolled up to the pallet and lifted it into the air with a groan. Straining under the weight, the forklift, driven by Kaito, slowly made its way to the correct shelf. As it neared where the salt was supposed to go, Kaito heard a crack. Wide-eyed, Kaito shot his head out of the window, looking for the problem. As the problem actually came into sight, his jaw dropped: there was a large break in the wood of the pallet, which, under the weight of the many packages of salt, threatened to break at any minute.

Kaito panicked, throwing the forklift into drive once more, hoping to get the pallet to its destination as fast as possible. Nothing he could have done would have stopped what happened next. At that very moment, Kaito's boss came around the corner of the shelving with a clipboard, marking down the current inventory. Simultaneously, the pallet finally broke, sending all of the salt crashing to the floor five feet below him. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion for Kaito. The large packages fell through the pallet as it snapped in half, careening towards the floor. Kaito's eyes followed the path the packages made as they made their inevitable journey to the floor.

The sound they made as the salt hit the floor seemed to resound throughout the whole warehouse, filling it with the sound of breaking and clattering. Wincing, Kaito turned to see his boss staring, open-mouthed at the mess that had just been made on the floor. Quickly, Kaito shouted, "Shit! I'm sorry boss!" as he jumped out of the forklift.

It didn't take long for his boss to recover, "Kaito! What the hell happened?!"

"The pallet just…broke!" Kaito responded.

The expression on his boss' face darkened for a second, then cleared as he sighed, "I guess there's nothing that could be done. I knew the pallets were getting old. Shit. Well after you clean this up, come see me in my office."

The boss turned and left as Kaito called after him, "Will do, sir!"

Sweeping up the salt would take a long time; there had to have been at least a thousand pounds of the stuff here and nearly all of the packages had broken. The few that were usable had already been returned to the shelf and marked in the inventory. Kaito sighed, this would take all day at this rate. Striking up a tune, Kaito started to sing while he worked; it was a way for him to calm his mind and focus on the task at hand. At first, the tune was nonsense, then he started to add words to the song.

Sad, but with all the feelings that his heart could pour into it, the song wove a pleasing melody around the area, seeming to complement everything around him, as well as Kaito himself. The song started out very quiet, but as soon as Kaito was sure that no one was around to hear him singing, he brought the volume up until he was singing at the top of his voice. He completely lost track of time, lost between the song and the labor he was doing with his body.

About three hours later, although it seemed like no time at all to Kaito, the task was done. All of the salt had been cleaned up and thrown away in far less time than Kaito could have imagined at the start. Taking a look out the small window in the roof of the warehouse, Kaito noticed that it had gotten dark out. It surely couldn't be that late already, could it?

Making his way to his boss' office, Kaito wondered what he was in store for. Was he going to get fired? Asked to leave? Given extra duties? What? Worried for his future, he stepped into the office. "Hey, Kaito. Thanks for getting that mess all cleaned up. I hate it when things like this happen. I guess I'll have to replace some of the older pallets; we really don't want something like this happening again soon."

"No, sir." Kaito agreed. "I'm sorry the event happened in the first place. It was probably my fault for putting too many packages on the pallet at once."

"Damn right it was your fault," his boss growled, "but I guess it could have been avoided by buying pallets more regularly. Don't let something like that ever happen again."

Kaito frowned, "I won't, sir."

"Good. If you ever see a pallet you suspect to be old, just grab another one. We have enough of them laying around, just use one of them."

"Yes sir. I will."

"Good, now get out of here, you have the rest of the night off."

Kaito grimaced, he needed the hours. Any cut made in his pay meant he wouldn't have enough money to get nice things during the week. Slouching, Kaito left the office and headed towards the time clock. Punching out, he made his way home. Reasoning to himself, Kaito decided that he could skip dinner that night, as he could use the money that he would save from this to eat later on in the week. Usually, later on in the week, he had to scramble for food, sometimes working for his neighbors to get a meal they cooked or a few hundred yen in order to get something to eat. It truly was a terrible way to live, but it was his life, and there was really nothing he could do about it except man up and deal with it.

The walk home seemed to Kaito to be passing in a blur. He had his head down, still taller than the rest of the crowd, slouched as he was. Just as he had done yesterday, he crashed into someone. In his mind, Kaito thought, "Dammit, every single time, something goes wrong! Why is my life so terrible!"

A small figure, once again on the ground, looked up at the man who had crashed into her. Teal twintails framed a cute face that stared up at Kaito, who's jaw had dropped. "Miku, is that you?"


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Neru yawned loudly, her face scrunched in so hard that all you could see clearly was her mouth. Groaning a little, she got out of bed and hopped to the floor, sending cursory glances around her, gathering in her surroundings. The sunlight coming in through her blinds cast interesting shadows upon the floor, causing her to send a glare at her clock, which was still buzzing annoyingly. She had set her alarm to give her exactly enough time to get ready for school, as long as she made sure to do everything fast and efficiently. This way she got the maximum amount of sleep every night. In the past though, it had gotten her into a decent amount of trouble due to being late on occasion, but she could afford this. Bringing her hand down on the off button, she punched the alarm into submission.

Walking decisively over to her dresser, she gathered the clothes she would be wearing today, taking minimal time. She made her way quickly to the shower, making the best time she could manage. Checking off what she had already done in a mental checklist, Neru closed the door to the bathroom, getting ready to check showering and dressing off the list. She stripped, shedding the nightgown she wore to bed, and suddenly caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She frowned, staring at her chest. Bringing her hands up, she grasped both of them; her glare intensified. They were just so damn small! Why did she have to be cursed with such tiny breasts? She had never even _seen_ someone her age with a chest smaller than hers. Sure, bigger ones could be a pain, but she could have been a little better endowed, couldn't she? "No man is going to want me for these, are they?" She muttered under her breath.

Breaking the glare, she let her hands fall. There was nothing she could do about it, except maybe drink more milk or whatever her classmates said might increase bust size. She had believed so many schemes, so many plans in the past, and none of them had worked. Neru stepped into the shower, turning on the hot water as she did so. Silently cursing herself for the waste of time she had spent looking at herself in the mirror, she made sure the shower was short, keeping with her tight schedule. Dressing herself in her school uniform, Neru grabbed her comb and ran through her hair quickly for the length that she had on her head. Putting it all into a single, blonde side-pony-tail, Neru stopped her rush to look at how she looked. "Not bad," she said quietly, scanning her figure, looking for anything that she had done wrong in getting ready.

Stepping out the door, Neru caught sight of the bus, which was exactly where she thought it would be: turning the corner of her street. "Perfect," She thought, smiling. "I've still got it."

Grinning, she hopped up into the bus, showed the driver her pass, and walked to the middle, near the door. That way she would be the first to leave the bus. Sights of the neighborhood she lived in passed before the bus, displaying all for anyone who took the time to look to see. Neru always liked watching the scenery passing before her, watching the apartments and businesses pass by. The bus slowed down to make one of its few stops on the way to the stop near the school. Four or five schoolbound highschoolers got on with the usual mix of passengers. One of the bunch, with long, dark, pink hair made his way to the middle of the bus. As he caught sight of her, he smiled and shouted, "Hi Neru! How's it going?"

Ah yes, Ted Kasane. He was a year below her, and seemed to like hanging around with her a lot. They were pretty good friends, as things like that go, but she could never see herself dating a guy like him. He was just too…excited for that. A good guy though, fun to hang out with. Neru smiled as she greeted him, "Hey Ted, I'm doing pretty well, how about you?"

Ted laughed a light, easy laugh probably only heard by Neru over the sound in the background. "I'm doing well too; it was nice having you over last night. Did you like watching that interview with those new idols?"

Neru grinned a little, "Did you know I met those two at work yesterday before coming over?"

Ted gaped, "Are you serious?"

"yeah," Neru said nonchalantly, "the boy was nice enough, really polite. The girl was a bitch though."

Ted still gaped, "Holy cow! I always thought about idols being pretty much separated from the rest of society. But I guess when you think about it, the world is a pretty small place."

Neru looked at her phone, "Yeah, the boy, Len was it? Yeah, he gave me his number, told me to call him if anything ever came up."

"Oooh, how'd that come about?" Ted was clearly really curious.

"The sister decided it would be a nice idea to shout annoying things at me. Not a big deal." Neru shrugged.

Ted shook his head, "Pretty crazy, she seemed nice on TV."

"So they aren't who you expected, well maybe the boy was, but yeah. People aren't always who they seem to be." Neru said snidely.

Ted sighed, "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

The bus stopped just then and Neru looked out the window again; they seemed to have reached their destination. Doors opening with a hiss of compressed air, the bus disgorged its many passengers. First to exit was Neru, leading Ted from the bus stop towards the school. She walked quickly and determinedly from the bus, not sparing a glance to either side as she made her way to the school. Ted had to walk pretty quickly to keep up with Neru, despite her small size. One of the smallest girls in her class, coming in at just 150cm, Neru was often unnoticed in the hallways of the school, which suited her just fine. Fewer distractions as she made her way to class made her life just that much easier.

Finally catching up with her, Ted, a little out of breath, said, "Why do you always hurry so much to class?"

Neru just gave him a scathing look and entered the classroom, taking a seat at the back of the class. She wanted a perfect seat not to be noticed texting or sleeping through the teacher's lecture. It's not as though Neru wasn't intelligent, she just never studied or anything. In fact. she was pretty darn smart. However, due to the lack of studying, she always got average marks. And she never cared. As the rest of the class trickled in, Neru got out her cell phone and put in on silent; she didn't want the teacher noticing and confiscating it.

Flipping it open, her fingers flying over the small keypad, she texted Luna Amane. "Hey quirk! How's today treating you?"

It only took about thirty seconds for a reply from her, "its your lord and master quirk the third to you side-tailed one"

Luna was one of Neru's good friends that lived in the area, and an eccentric one at that. Always searching for something about the unknown, Luna was always good at making Neru crack a smile at the very least. Luna was someone that you just didn't see or talk to every day, and that oddity was something that really spiced up Neru's life. However much they texted each other, neither one hung out with the other all that much outside school. Neru resolved to change this, as life could be really boring sometimes, and Luna was exactly the person to ask to get things moving out of a rut. Replying at lightning speed, Neru typed, "Oh ho! Getting more and more impressive titles are we? Aiming for emperor next?"

"why yes i am," came the reply after a little pause, "though im going to have to ask the moon people to vote for me its just how these things work."

Neru would have complained about the lack of punctuation and capitalization that her texting included, but Luna was just too funny to go about reprimanding about that sort of thing, unlike a certain someone sitting next to her. Looking to her left, she saw Ted leaning in, peeking at what she was texting. Neru gave the boy one of her most fearsome blank stares, so fearsome that he quailed and sat back down at his desk, going back to writing down the notes. Silently chuckling, Neru responded, "Ted's a moon person, I'll have to ask him to start the voting going for you. Hope elections go well!"

The reply was quick, "excellent, young one i have taught you well make sure you tug on his drillhair sometimes it has a life of its own and will attack if you try to do anything to influence the host."

Nearly bursting out laughing, Neru texted, "I'll watch out. It sounds dangerous. What should I do if it attacks?"

"stand very still it wont attack if it cant sense you also make sure your killing aura is down it can sense it. standing in front helps too."

"I'll make sure to take the proper precautions. Like standing in front of him."

"good. wait a second getting a call from the ghost of a mole-man."

Neru loved getting texts from Luna so much. Sometimes they were the highlight of her day, just seeing how wacky her friend was turned out to be enough to make a decent day great or a bad day decent. On a whim, Neru decided to email message a friend she didn't often contact due to the language difference. Opening up her email and typing in English, Neru slowly tapped out, "Hello, Sono. It has been a long time."

Even though she was typing in a language she did not have a huge grasp of, Neru made sure that her message was perfect, right down to the punctuation. The reply didn't take too long. It was as if the person on the other phone was either using a computer or a phone with a full keyboard. That or they were as skilled as she was with a phone. "Oh, hello there Neru! It has been a long while indeed. What's shakin'?"

Slowly and meticulously responding, she typed, "Not much going on around here. School and work are pretty boring, not too much is new. How about you?"

Within ten seconds, her phone lit up, signaling a reply, "That's too bad, I feel for ya. Me? Lots of new stuff has happened around here lately. I got a new gig working for a new label over here. Pretty cool stuff! I'll send you a link later. Be sure to check it out. Pretty catchy stuff if I do say so myself!"

Sono was an interesting guy, Neru had to admit. A man of many talents, he had done music for jazz bands, rap bands and drum&bass groups. If she had to say anything about him, she would say he was a freestyle musician. He liked music that could go just about anywhere. He tended to like to cross his music over and together, creating weird combinations that people just didn't think would work. Perhaps that was why it had taken him this long to get fully signed. She wondered if he was working alone or as a group. Once again, she took about a minute in her reply, "Cool! Are you working with anyone else this time? Also, what kind of music are you playing now? I'll make sure to check out that link you sent me later, as soon as I get home from school."

"You bet!" came the response, "I'm actually working alone at the moment, apparently the record label liked my new CD, and signed me. I'll leave you in suspense about what kind of music it is for the moment, just listen to what I sent you, as it would be impossible for me to just explain it to you. You gotta feel it. Anyway, I gotta go. Stuff to do, people to meet. Catch ya later cat!"

Neru silently giggled, remembering how strange this guy was. Flashy though, she couldn't deny that. She had originally met him online in a chat room when she was reaming someone out for telling her that she listened to terrible music. True, her taste in music at the time was horrible, but that didn't change the validity of her argument. His taste was worse, so it didn't matter anyway. Sono had stepped in and said that if they would just calm down for a second, they could hear the music of the chat room itself. There hadn't been any, and since he was talking in English, it had taken both parties a while to respond. When they had finally figured out what he was saying, neither party cared much about what they had been talking about. His one line of intervention had stopped the entire argument. It had actually sparked her interest, causing her to have a lengthy conversation with the guy and subsequently getting his email address. Since then, she had emailed him from time to time, talking about certain issues, new and upcoming bands, and his own music career, which was just starting out at that point.

After closing her phone, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep to the sound of her teacher blathering on and on about whatever subject the class had moved on to. She was quickly awoken by a pat on the shoulder and a gentle shake. Ted said softly enough to be heard over the din of the classroom, "Hey Neru, class is over. Let's go, we've got another class now."

Oh right, classes. Pesky, really. Always intruding on a girl's perfectly good nap. Yawning, Neru hefted her messenger bag and walked briskly out of the classroom followed by Ted. They had matched their schedules up pretty well this year, only having one class apart. This was really a pretty great deal, as far as Neru was concerned: she got to sleep in all of her classes but one, and never get reprimanded by the teacher due to having Ted there to help out. Whenever a test was imminent, Ted would come over to her apartment, or have her over, and he would go over the test materials, while she listened/texted. It was pretty awesome for her, as far as things went. This way she passed school without much effort at all really.

A few classes went by until they had lunch. Always neglecting to bring her own boxed lunch, Neru invariably bought food from the school. Her timeliness served her quite well in this regard, allowing her to arrive before nearly everyone else, and thus avoiding the massive lines that formed. Able to buy her food rather quickly gave her time to eat in pleasure instead of racing through it like most of the foolish masses would have to do. She found Ted already sitting down at a table with Luna and sat down across from them. She hadn't seen Luna earlier today, but she would have recognized the large bunny ears she wore around all the time, every day. Almost as if they were glued to her head, Luna always wore rabbit ears. It was just something Ted and Neru just accepted at this point. She was quirky in every way, but always nice and fun to be around. With a solemn face, Luna spoke up first. "So, did you end up being attacked by the drillhair?"

Neru chuckled, "No, I concocted a devious plan involving bait, treachery and magic faeries. I was able to pass on the message with no interference. Glory to your reign for evermore, Empress." Bowing low, grinning wide, Neru jokingly prostrated herself before royalty.

Royally confused, Ted cast glances between the two. He just never got it when people were playing along with Luna; such a naïve boy. "What are we talking about now?"

"We're talking about the journey of a starfaring empress who befriends a bunch of mole-people and decides to take over the lair of the thunder-beast. It's a grand tale." Luna said, stonyfaced.

Neru couldn't help it, what with the look on Ted's face and the expression Luna had on hers. Bursting out laughing, Neru shook with the force of the delighted waves of laughter. Luna and Ted both waited for her to stop laughing. Ted's expression got more confounded by the second, making Neru laugh even harder. It took a while for her to finish laughing, and when she did, she immediately buried her face into her food, making sure she concentrated on eating, so that she wouldn't be late for the next class, which would be starting in about ten minutes. Silence still played around their table for a few minutes while they ate, but then Ted seemed to have discarded his earlier question and asked, "Hey, would you guys like to come over to my place later today? We haven't hung out in a while as a group."

Luna nodded sagely, "Yes, I believe I can set aside my duties as an empress easy for half a day and accompany you two."

Neru, still smiling a bit, said, "Sure, Ted. What time?"

"How about 8?"

"Sounds good. I'll be there." Neru replied.

"As you wish, friends." Luna bowed her head.

The rest of the day went pretty quickly, lunch being the longest time she was awake all throughout the day. As the final bell rung, Neru was prepared, launching out of her seat and making quick work of the distance to the nearest bus stop, Ted in pursuit, keeping up pretty well, only after running a bit to catch up. Making it to the bus stop, they didn't have long to wait until the bus showed up, disgorging a few passengers, but admitting more. Filling up fast, the bus quickly closed it doors and made its way back towards the residences of many students. Neru, once again near as possible to the doors, watched the scenery pass quickly and without really registering on her brain.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. The bus had stopped at an intersection, waiting for a light to change, and a young man was carrying something that looked heavy outside a shop. He seemed to be having extreme trouble with it, and the worst part was that she knew him. It was Dell Honne, resident jerk of the shop they both worked in, but he wasn't mean, just prickly. Helping him out would probably sooth the comments he always made about her tiny chest, and hey, it was a good thing to do. Plus, she was still in a good mood from Luna's hijinks. Pulling the yellow cord that signaled to the driver that she wanted to exit, she walked out of the bus and onto the street, yelling behind her at Ted, "See you at 8!"

Not turning around to see his reaction, Neru left Ted and started across the street to see if Dell could use a hand. Dell clearly didn't see her coming, so focused on his work of lifting multiple boxes, clearly very heavy from the way he was holding them. "Mind if I help you out there, Dell?" Neru said, standing right next to him.

Clearly surprised by the question, Dell nearly dropped the boxes, piled three high. "Shit!" He said, bringing them under control only with the assistance of Neru. "Oh, hi there failtits. Yeah, I guess I could use a hand. Dammit." He spat.

Reaching up, Neru grabbed the top one, bringing it into her arms. It was a great deal heavier than she was used to lifting. Not a weakling, Neru was surprised at how strong Dell was, and completely understood how he was having trouble lifting three of these. "Ooof!" She said as she hefted the box, "What's in here? Stone?!"

"Papers. And there are another thirty boxes. I have to get them all moved by eight-thirty so I can make it to my next job."

Neru was surprised just how heavy paper could be in this amount. "Well then, I guess I'll give you a hand with these. Wouldn't want you to be late, after all." Neru said in good humour. "Just how far do we have to take these?"

"About two blocks, to a waiting storage shed. Thanks for the help." Dell said, perhaps a little grudgingly.

As they moved the thirty-three boxes of papers to the storage shed, all Neru could think of was how much Dell worked. Why did he need to work all day long, clearly not going to school. On their tenth trip to the storage shed, Neru asked, "Dell? I was wondering, you don't go to school, do you? Wouldn't the truant officers come after you or your parents?"

It was the first time she had ever pried into his past, or even attempted it. Perhaps it was just how tired they had become, but Dell actually answered the question, "I don't have any parents. Never had any. And I go to night school."

"Don't those things go every day of the week?" Neru asked, remembering that he was going to another job at eight-thirty.

"Every day except weekends, yes." Dell huffed, clearly getting tired at this point. Luckily there was only one load left to haul. "'Cept that this time, one of my jobs insisted I be there tonight, otherwise I'm out on my ass. I guess no night school for me tonight."

"Ah." Neru said as she dragged her feet, clearly too tired to do much more speaking.

Finally finishing the last load, Neru actually gave the storage shed a real look. "When did you start this project?"

"Three? Three-thirty? Something like that." He replied.

There had to be over a hundred boxes in this shed. Shocked was the only word Neru could come up with to describe herself at that moment. At that moment, Neru began to respect Dell, a man who was not afraid to shoulder his own burden, a man not afraid to take real responsibility for his life, take it into his own hands and make it his own, whatever the cost.

"Well," he said, "we finishedthat a half hour early. Want to go grab some dinner? I'll pay, as you did save me a ton of work here."

Neru started to mount a response, started to tell him she would pay for her own meal, thank you very much, but Dell cut her off, almost menacingly, "I'm paying. It's the right thing to do."

Neru said nothing more on the subject. She was just too tired to argue with him at this point.

Dell led Neru to a McDonalds, one of the quickest and handiest restaurants within sight, as well as happening to be one of the cheapest restaurants around. Neru didn't mind, as she would have eaten junk anyway, either in convenience store-bought boxes, or from perhaps this very restaurant. But this way she was learning more about someone she didn't know very well and finding more and more respect for the man as she got to know him better. Not much was said between the two, but they shared a common feeling, that of friendship. Neru suspected that this was one of the first friendships either of them had made in a very long time. After finishing the meal, Neru stretched, squinting her eyes with the effort. That work was really tiring! Relaxing a little, she put her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. "So, where to now?"

Dell responded, "Work for me, I don't know where you're going. Home, perhaps?"

Neru pretended to consider it, "Nah, I think I'm going to keep helping you out. You look like you could use the help. Hey, you might even be able to make it to the second half of night school that way."

"Not a chance, failtits." Dell shook his head. "This is my job, I'm going to do it. Plus, it goes until four am. I don't think you want to be out that late."

Neru was aghast. Four am? Ridiculous. It clearly showed on her face, as Dell's eyebrows scooted up towards his hairline. "See? You don't want to help me." He stated it as fact, but Neru wouldn't give up that fast.

In fact, Neru was spurred on by this comment. "Now you listen to me. I AM going to help you out, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I'm not even going to listen to you."

Dell laughed, "Alright, we'll see just how long you last. If you pass out, I'm not carrying you back to your place."

Neru pouted, "Oh pffft. I won't pass out. With me helping you, we can probably get done hours earlier than you working alone. Anyway" she said, reiterating, "You aren't stopping me."

Dell held his hands up in submission, "Fine, fine. Let's go, we have work to do."

As Dell led Neru through the city, smoking a cigarette, all Neru could think of was the predicament Dell was in. All she wanted was to alleviate his circumstances, and helping him at work seemed to be the best way to do it. It took them a relatively short time to reach their destination, which wasn't too far from her house, all things considered. From the place where she was helping Dell in the first place, they had gradually moved close to where she lived. At least it would be a short walk to her house from Dell's work.

Dell keyed the lock, and opened the door, holding it open for Neru to pass through as well. She muttered a quiet thanks as she stepped into a dark office building. No one seemed to be inside at this point. Apparently everyone's shift had ended already. Everyone except Dell. Neither of them had spoken much since the McDonalds, and Dell's voice cut the air like the crack of a rifle, "There was supposed to be someone else helping me, but they called me earlier today saying they weren't going to come, and that I had to do his job as well. I'm glad you're here as well Neru. This would have been a bitch and a half to complete if I didn't have any help."

Neru shook her head, "I'm glad I'm here as well. You shouldn't overwork yourself. It isn't healthy."

Dell laughed, holding up one of his cigarettes, "Name one thing that I do that is healthy for me."

Neru frowned, but didn't say anything on the subject, instead, talking about what he had said previous, "You said your coworker said you had to do his job too? What the hell?"

Dell frowned and looked away, clearly not wanting to discuss the topic. "Well," he sighed, "let's get on with it. See those boxes over there?" He pointed at a pile of boxes much like the ones they transported to the storage shed earlier, "We have to log each file in there and shred them. It's a job easiest to do with two people. I'll name off the filename, you enter it into the computer, and I'll shred it. Sound fair?"

"Understood sir!" Neru saluted.

"That's the spirit, lets get this shit done." He replied.

The job took a long time, completely repetitive in nature, and by the end, Neru was almost nodding off. Finally pulling the last page from the last box, Dell said the name of the file, then had to raise his voice to stir Neru, who had fallen into a trancelike state, not sleeping, but not paying attention to anything, her eyes unfocused. "Oi! Neru!" He shouted, startling her into focus.

"Oh! Sorry!" Neru said, as she quickly entered the data into the computer's log.

The entire job hadn't taken as long as Dell had initially suggested, but its tedious nature made sure the job took until two in the morning. The only thing that prevented the job from taking far longer was Neru's amazingly fast fingers. Her amazing dexterity allowed them to make great time. Their success clearly surprised Dell, who's eyebrows went up when he noticed the time. "Well," he said, "no chance of me making it to night school, but we got this done pretty quickly. Thank you Neru."

She smiled, "Anytime. I'm not letting people take advantage of you as they clearly have."

"Thanks, but I really can take care of myself, you know." Dell said, reassuringly. "But there is something else I could use help with. I have to carry these two boxes home, and I would have to come back for a second trip, and I'd rather not have to do that if I could help it. Want to give me a hand?"

Neru gave him a scathing look, that dripped sarcasm, "No, carry it all by yourself. Of course I'll help. Where do you live?"

Dell pointed in the same direction she lived in, "Over that way, only about two blocks or so."

Neru nodded, "Good, because I live in that direction as well. Makes things easier for us."

Dell grinned, looking a little mad at having to enlist help, but happy at the same time, "Excellent. Let's get moving, shall we?"

Hefting the boxes, the two of them left the building, locking it on their way out. It only took them about ten minutes to reach an apartment complex. Had Neru been a little more observant, she would have noticed a woman with pink hair and twin drillhairs on either side of her face walk across the street, head tilted to the side in an awkward position. As it was, Neru was tired and wanted to finish helping Dell out as fast as possible. Neru did, however, notice that this apartment was familiar. Upon closer examination, Neru exclaimed, "Hey! I know this place! My friend Ted lives here. Well what do you know? Small world, isn't it."

Dell ignored this, other than grinning slightly. He was exhausted, even though he tried not to let it show. Walking up the stairs to his room, Neru watched as Dell produced a key from his pocket and unlock the door. Holding it open for her, she walked inside. The interior of the apartment looked much like hers, except a little bigger. She only needed one bedroom, whereas Dell apparently lived with someone else. She had never asked him about family much before and it seemed bad to break the silence that had built up at all.

Dell did that for her, by exclaiming in a gentle but angered voice, "Oh Haku, you didn't do it again, did you? Shit."

Neru walked inside a little more, bringing the focuse of Dell's attention to bear. It was an older woman, no older than perhaps twenty-five, passed out on the couch. Watching as Dell gently picked the woman up, conscious of the fact that the woman was larger than he was, and carrying her to a bedroom door left open. Slowly following him, but forgetting that she was still carrying the box, Neru turned back and put it next to the box Dell had put down before following him Setting the woman on the bed, then rolling covers over her, Dell turned back, clearly not realizing that Neru had followed him into the bedroom, for as soon as he noticed her looking at him, he covered his face, for it was full of tears.

Neru's world was shaken. This was a broken man standing before her. A man keeping a bright face on, despite everything the world threw at him. Nothing got him down, nothing broke him. Except this. The woman and this man looked nothing alike, except for the hair color, perfectly grey. Wanting nothing more to ease the man's hurt, Neru rushed to him and embraced him tightly. Being significantly shorter than Dell, Neru would have felt awkward at any other time, but not now. All she could think of was this man in her arms.

Dell's body racked with silent sobs as she embraced him. Ever so slowly, Neru felt arms encircling her as well, as Dell hugged her to him. They stood like that for a little while, until Dell sniffed, whiped his tears, and looked her straight in the eyes. They stood there, in Haku's room, staring into one another's eyes for what seemed like years to Neru, until he leaned down a little and kissed her, fully on the lips. It started gentle, but as Neru returned the kiss, it grew increasingly strong and willful. She melted on his lips, savoring every motion, every inch of contact they shared. At that very moment, she was his.

Gentle, strong hands caressed her body as his kisses still enveloped every bit of her mind. Moving her hands from his back, Neru felt Dell slow his kisses for a moment, until he worked out what she was doing: unbuttoning her shirt. Seeming to enflame him further, Dell kissed her with more intensity than she thought possible without hurting someone. Quickly undoing the buttons of her shirt, Neru raced to pull it off her when Dell took over the process, ripping it from her body and thowing it. By some strange chance, it landed square on the hanger. Crooked, but still attached to the hanger. This motion seemed to alert Dell to the fact that they were still in Haku's room. Stopping his kisses for a moment, Dell looked at Neru, who could do little but look up at his expectantly, waiting for what he would do next.

Neru let out a little quiet yelp of surprise as Dell picked her up, carrying her to down the hallway, clearly to his room. As they passed the threshold his room, Neru craned her neck, meeting his lips as they came down for another kiss. This mistake caused Dell to stumble and spill onto the bed. Ending up with Dell on top of her, Neru looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back, a smile full of pain, of longing, but most of all, a smile full of passion. That smile quickly disappeared from sight as Neru closed her eyes, locking her thoughts upon the feeling of his lips on hers. Hands at her back, undoing her bra, Neru moved around on the bed, making a little room for his hands by arching her back, thrusting her breasts upwards, towards his face. Feeling the bra come loose, Neru almost felt embarrassed at her lack of chest, but the feeling of Dell's hands caressing them quickly dissipated that feeling. His fingers felt like magic against her skin, putting just enough pressure so that she gave out an almost inaudible gasp of delight. Neru then felt their kiss end, only to open her eyes to a view of Dell's grey hair as he leaned in to kiss her on the neck. He kissed her neck, then down her shoulders, coming finally to her chest, giving tender attention to her breasts, slowly kissing them, passionately running his hands over her body, eliciting a sigh from her lips.

Gasping a little as he took her nipple in between his teeth, Neru grabbed at his hair, running her hands through it, feeling it, stroking it. Kisses flooded her body as he moved his mouth all over, coming back to her mouth at times, leaving again to explore once again. Finally, his mouth rested on her belly and his hands reached for her clothes once more, gently, but quickly removing her skirt and panties, getting rid of them before she could blink. She felt one kiss, and shuddered, grabbing his hair more forcefully. Dell stood up for a second, removing his shirt and pants very quickly. It didn't seem like it took a second, and then Dell was on top of her again, hands at her sides, mouth up against hers, bringing soft, warm delight to her. After a few seconds of work and subsequent help from her, she felt him enter her. An explosion of pain and pleasure erupted within her at the same time. She gasped, grasping the skin on his back with ferocious intensity. There was no time, no Dell, no Neru, there was only the present, delight, pain and the feeling of the moment. All she could feel was the motion of him against her, thrusting. She began to grow hot, as if her very mind were going to explode. She moaned very quietly, probably so quietly Dell didn't even notice. It made no difference anyway. She yelled as the feeling washed through her, her vision went white. There was nothing to see, only things to feel, to grasp with her hands.

Dell made an exhausted noise, then fell on top of her, both of them tired beyond movement. Neither moved, and that was what probably alerted them to movement elsewhere in the room. Both of them looked upwards, at the door, where two pink-haired people stood there. All Neru could think was, "What is Ted doing here?"

There was utter silence, silence so thick you could feed a small town of starving farmers for a week.

No one dared to break this silence. It seemed holy, unholy and something more at the same time.

It seemed to last forever, until a quavering voice rose to crash the thick silence into nothingness, "Neru?"

The voice was Ted's.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

"Yes Ms. Hanabine?" Gakupo asked, leaning his head out of his office. So far, the day had been pretty average; no one had been injured or joined the gym today, so Gakupo was pleased. It was ok if nothing of importance happened, as every little mundane thing became just that much more evident. Gakupo Kamui had been trying to concentrate on the paperwork that had to be done before the end of the week, but he just could not gather the necessary concentration for this task.

"You have a call from a Luka Megurine. Should I take a message or would you like to take the call yourself?" Zumi asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly implying something about women and Gakupo.

Gakupo rolled his eyes at this look, replying, "Of course I'll take the call. Transfer it in here."

"Yes sir," Zumi said, turning back to the phone, grinning a little. It wasn't uncommon for Luka Megurine to call Gakupo. In fact, she called him about twice a month, just to check up on him, how he was doing, how the business was coming along, jovial things like that. This wasn't unusual, as they had been good friends for as long as each of them could remember, surely since childhood.

Closing the door to his office, Gakupo answered the phone. "Hello there Ms. Megurine. What can I do for you today?"

A soft and beautiful voice, filled with laughter came over through the receiver, "Oh, Gakupo. Such formality all the time. We've known each other for so long, you know you can dispose of those things when talking to me."

Gakupo sighed, it was just in his nature to refer to people in such a formal tone, but he made an effort. "Sorry Megu–Luka, I mean. How have you been doing lately?"

The smile on the other end was tangible, "I'm doing just fine, thank you Gakupo. I trust you're doing well also?"

"Yeah," Gakupo said, clearly straining to keep an informal conversation going, "I'm doing just fine. The clinic has been doing pretty well for itself, and a new location will be opening within a couple months. It's actually been pretty exciting around here as of late." He checked his watch, Meiko would be showing up for her appointment soon, and he really wanted to be on hand to help her personally. Gakupo was burning to see that beautiful woman again.

"Glad to hear it." Luka laughed lightly, "Actually that was what I actually called you about. You promised me some personal lessons a while back. I'm calling that favor in. I'll be in presently."

Normally, Gakupo would have put up a good fight of it, being all businesslike and politely asking her to reschedule, but this was different. He owed her these lessons from a long time ago, Luka was a great friend, and hell, she had caught him completely off guard. He spluttered, attempting to marshal some semblance of an argument, but nothing came to him.

"See you in two minutes, Gakupo, I'm just right down the street on a cell phone. Won't take me long at all to get there. See you!"

And with that, before Gakupo could say anything at all to the contrary, Luka hung up. Realizing there was absolutely nothing he could do about the situation, Gakupo brought his hand to his face, showing his exasperation. Quickly regaining his composure, Gakupo walked quickly and purposefully over to where the other trainers would be located. He would disarm the situation by getting one of them to help out with Luka so that he could help the lovely Meiko himself. As if to spite the very intentions he harbored at that moment, the woman who resided in all his present thoughts walked through the doorway of the gym, scanning around for him, exercise bag hanging from her shoulder.

Meiko Sakine was every bit as lovely as he imagined her to be, seeming to glow with beauty. Once again, Gakupo was stopped speechless, completely forgetting what he was about to do. He was only broken out of his stupor by her voice, "Hello there Gakupo, feeling well today?"

After a quick pause, Gakupo was able to say, "Y-yes Ms. Sakine. I'm doing quite well today, nothing seems to have exploded recently."

Meiko chuckled, "Yes, I imagine nothing exploding is a good thing to have happen in a gym like this."

Caught up in the conversation, Gakupo babbled, "Indeed so. Nothing is on fire here either, so you have nothing to worry about."

Still smiling, Meiko replied, "Good good. The lack of fire is something I find helps while exercising, which speaking of exercising, do you suppose we could start? I have an appointment coming up in a couple hours. I would like to be done and have enough time to get ready for that afterwards."

"Yes, yes. Let's get started immediately!" Gakupo exclaimed, "follow me! The mats are right over here where we can start by stretching out those muscles."

Meiko paused, then said, "Um, Gakupo, I need to change first."

Mentally kicking himself, Gakupo said, "oh my, I'm sorry, I guess I just got caught up in what I was doing. Changing rooms are over there to the right," he pointed to a series of doors. "I hope they are what you are used to."

Gakupo waited for what seemed to him to be a year until something happened in the corner of his eye. This was bad. Any other time, it would have been fine for her to show up, so why did she have to show up _now?_ Luka had at that moment walked through the doors and locked eyes with him immediately. Smiling and waving, dressed in workout clothes, she had clearly come prepared, and there was nothing Gakupo could do to stop her. After all, they were good friends and he didn't want to say something that could hurt her feelings.

The distance between them was relatively short, but Luka crossed it quickly, throwing her arms around him in a light embrace. Meiko picked this exact moment to appear out of the changing room, saying, "…perhaps the most posh changing rooms I've ever seen in a–oh." She stopped talking as she saw Gakupo and Luka.

Gakupo was horrified. The worst had happened. Meiko clearly thought Luka and he had something together. _Well,_ Gakupo sighed, _we couldn't have been anything anyway. That whole client thing is such a bother. Oh well, there's nothing for it._

The embrace from Luka had only lasted as long as an embrace between friends should have, but it had come at perhaps the most inopportune time possible for Gakupo, who turned to Meiko with a sardonic grin, his expression saying, 'sorry about this.'

"I'm sorry Ms. Megurine, I didn't have time to tell you over the telephone, but I already had an appointment right now." Gakupo said. _Perhaps I can salvage this still! _"I should introduce you two. Luka Megurine, meet Meiko Sakine.

"A pleasure," Meiko said, smiling and extending her hand politely.

"Oh no," Luka smiled back taking the hand daintily, "the pleasure is all mine.

Gakupo thought he could see a cold glint in Luka's eyes, but the moment he focused on it, it was gone, replaced by curiosity.

"Haven't I met you before somewhere before?" Luka asked.

"Perhaps you've seen me on television or perhaps on some of the Crypton albums. I model for them you see." Meiko returned.

Luka's face brightened as she brought her fist into her other hand with recognition, "That's got to be it! You see, my daughter works for Crypton as well! Hatsune Miku, have you met her?"

"The cute little girl with teal hair? I remember meeting her a few times around the studio. Never done any modeling for her albums though, she's a very pretty girl, does her own art pretty well."

"Small world, huh?" Luka smiled. "I'd love to have you over for dinner sometime, would you perhaps oblige me?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to be a bother, I–" Meiko was cut off.

"No, no I insist. Do you have plans tonight at 8?" Luka interjected, starting to scribble down the address on a piece of paper.

"No, I-I gues that would be just fine." Meiko said, stuttering a little. This woman was nice, but certainly had a forceful personality.

"Glad to hear it! I personally guarantee that dinner will be absolutely delicious." Luka beamed as she handed Meiko the slip of paper with her address written on it.

"I'll be there," Meiko said, accepting the paper, pocketing it without looking at it, their eyes locked.

Gakupo watched this exchange, nonplussed. It was strange enough that these two knew each other at all, let alone have them get along in any capacity. Maybe things would be alright after all. Still thinking, Gakupo frowned, something had changed. He looked up, startled by the change and found him being stared at by both women. "What?" Gakupo asked lamely.

"Are we going to get on with the exercising?" Luka asked politely, while Meiko nodded.

"Oh, that." Gakupo organized his thoughts.

"Yes, that." Meiko said, smiling. "You're clearly a busy man with much on his mind, and I would indulge you your silence, but I must be off in" she looked at her watch, "an hour and a half now."

"Oh! Follow me, please. Both of you. There's no reason why we can't do this as a group."

"I suppose it's for the best," Meiko shrugged.

Gakupo led the two women to the mat area where a few other people were stretching out, getting ready for more strenuous exercise. Walking to the front of the mat, Gakupo motioned for the two women to come and face him. Both of them stepped purposefully onto the mat, walking towards Gakupo, watching him intently. Taking off his slippers and jacket, Gakupo stood before them, centering himself. Suddenly, he said in a stern voice, "Ok, both of you; follow me to the best of your ability. Be safe however, I don't want you getting hurt on my account. Gakupo then launched into a series of tough stretches, all swift and precise, all targeting specific muscles. The two women attempted to follow his example, but they were significantly slower and tired fast. Breaking from his routine, which he had been repeating for a good five minutes, he strode over to Luka, putting his hands on her hips, moving them over a small amount. Squeaking at the contact, Luka faltered.

"Come on, you can do it. Just move this over here and that over here," Gakupo said as he made small changes to her posture.

Luka visibly sighed at the changes. "Thanks," she huffed, still doing the routine.

Gakupo then made his way over to Meiko, who was faring a little better, but still not as well as he would have her be faring. Making a few adjustments, Gakupo stepped back, looking at their progress. He could see they were quickly growing tired and would not be able to sustain this routine for more than five more minutes. Quickly calling a halt to the exercise, Gakupo motioned for them to stand, "Keep moving. You need to keep moving! Walk in place if you have to, just keep the heart pumping as it is right now!

Gakupo worked the two women pretty hard, putting them on the same training schedule he used himself, only altering it slightly for the female body, focusing more on flexibility than strength. Thoroughly exhausted at the end of the session, Meiko and Luka laid on the mats, breathing heavily. However, Gakupo extended a hand to each of them, frowning, "Get up! You must not lie down after a hard exercise, it's very bad for you! Even if you only walk around, you must keep moving!"

Each having taken his hand, Gakupo pulled them to their feet through his strength alone; they were just too tired to do anything. Nearly collapsing as they got to their feet, Gakupo helped them to walk around a little and regain some control over their legs. After thanking him for the training, each of the women made their way to the changing rooms, each containing a shower and personal steam room. Gakupo made his way to the front desk where Zumi stood, grinning slightly. He could tell where this was going before he even got to the desk.

"Two women at the same time? I'm impressed Mr. Kamui. You should be proud of yourself."

Gakupo gave her the dirtiest look he could manage, boring an imaginary hole in her forehead with his stare.

"Woah now, I was talking about personal training! You should be proud that you could train two people into exhaustion like that. I've never seen someone do that before." Grinning from ear to ear, Zumi added, "I don't know what _you_ were thinking about."

Gakupo rolled his eyes vigorously, Zumi knew all of his buttons. It was impossible to escape her use of innuendo and sarcasm. He no longer even tried to argue with her. It was pointless.

After bout twenty minutes, Meiko came out of the changing room, dressed once again in her stunning red outfit, clearly dressed to impress every single person she met. _It certainly worked as it intended_, Gakpo mused. Once again, he found himself losing himself in Meiko's beauty; it was hard not to, she was just _that_ beautiful. This time, however, Gakupo pulled himself out of the trance he was slipping into. He needed to actually _talk_ to her, rather than just stare. Staring was bad. "I hope you had a good workout, Ms. Sakine. Thank you so much for coming. It really was a pleasure having you here."

"Oh no, Gakupo, I really enjoyed myself here. I'll definitely come back next week for another lesson." Meiko replied shakily, clearly still exhausted from the workout.

"Same time next week?" Gakupo asked, flipping through his schedule.

"Yeah, if you can fit me in. Thank you."

"Not a problem, Ms. Sakine. There's always an open spot here for you. Come on in anytime." Gakupo replied with a wide smile.

Flipping closed his notebook, Gakupo watched Meiko walk steadily out of the gym, clearly still sore. He felt a little badly about how hard he had worked such a beautiful woman, but he clenched his fists, this was the best and fastest way to get in shape! It would hurt a little at first, but soon enough it would be routine for her and she would look better than ever! Still keeping an eye on the woman walking away from the gym, Gakupo let his mind drift lazily. She really was lovely. Locked in daydreams, Gakupo felt eyes watching him, and swiftly turned around to see Luka stepping out of the changing rooms, staring at him.

Slowly walking up to him, she said, "Gakupo, thank you very much for including me in the exercise. I'm sorry about coming on such short notice, but I needed to make sure I got in today. Anyway, it seems as though I'm having a get together at my house tonight. Ms. Sakine is coming, and Miku is having someone else over. I–" Luka paused, "I wanted to ask you if you would like to come over as well."

Dinner at Luka's house? If there was one thing that was impossible to forget about Luka Megurine, it was her cooking. Gakupo would never turn down an offer for a meal at her house for any reason, her cooking was just _that_ good. Plus, Meiko would be there. "8pm right?" Gakupo asked.

Luka nodded, serious.

Gakupo smiled, "Of course I'll be there. Thank you very much for the offer!"

Luka beamed, "Excellent! I'll go home right now and start getting ready!"

Gakupo watched her walk quickly towards the doorway, when she turned around and said, "Oh, thank you again for letting me come and work out! I really enjoyed it!"

With that she was gone, walking briskly out of the door, towards the grocery store.

_This day really is great. I can't wait for 8 O'clock._ Gakupo thought dreamily, his thoughts focused completely on Meiko.


End file.
